Daelim wins major Iran refinery deal

South Korea’s construction giant Daelim Industrial Company says it has won a major deal from Iran to expand a central oil refinery.

Daelim announced in a statement as quoted by the media in Seoul that the project involves improving and optimizing facilities at Isfahan Oil Refinery.

It added that the value of the deal is $1.9 billion.

The value of the deal makes up about 24 percent of the company’s sales last year, reported The Korean Herald. It is among the biggest Iran has awarded a Korean builder after the removal of the sanctions in January, Daelim added.

The project, due for completion in 48 months, is to add facilities that will be used to produce high value-added products to the oil refinery located 400 kilometers south of Tehran, the capital of Iran.

With a capacity of processing 375,000 barrels per day of oil, Isfahan Refinery is currently responsible for supplying around 22 percent of Iran’s required oil products.

Under the deal with Daelim Industrial which would be officially signed in January 2017, the South Korean company will be in charge of design, equipment and material procurement, construction and financing.

Daelim Industrial has been a leading South Korean company in Iran’s construction business sector since Korea established diplomatic relations with Iran in 1962.

It has clinched 26 projects worth $4.5 billion in total over the past 40 years.

“The latest order is the outcome of being recognized as a credible company by Iran’s state-run firms and private companies based on (Daelim’s) long experience in Iran,” said a Daelim Industrial official, as quoted by The Korea Herald.

The new deal will likely lead to additional orders, said the company, which has carried out various projects in Iran ranging from oil refining, natural gas and petrochemical plant construction.Shares of Daelim Industrial closed Thursday at 87,100 won, up 5.32 percent or 4,400 won from the previous session.